Chapter 607: The Demon God's Curse, The Exchange for Abundant Resources

In the austere great hall, a wave of unrest rippled through the crowd of several hundred high-ranking Purgatory True Demons as the silhouettes of three demon kings and one great demon king materialized atop the demonic pillar.

A demon with forked horns standing beside Bredos brightened with excitement. Lowering his voice, he whispered, "Brother, look! It's Great Demon King Barus!"

Bredos' eyes flickered slightly before he responded in a subdued tone, "You've seen him before?"

"Not just seen," the horned demon replied, his voice tinged with exhilaration. "Back when I was in the military camp, I often heard tales about Great Demon King Barus. He’s a legendary figure—a true idol for those of us from alien races transformed into True Demons."

The horned demon continued, barely containing his enthusiasm. "As a True Demon of alien origin, he not only rose to the rank of great demon king, but was also entrusted with a significant role as one of the directors of the Ancestral Purgatory Court's Assassination Division.

"It's said that under his leadership, many human geniuses, elite powerhouses, and even kings perished during the day-cycle battles. Additionally, he’s been extraordinarily effective in suppressing and infiltrating nearby alien factions.

"Beyond that, Lord Barus is also known for his ferocious combat prowess. In the recent war against humanity, he single-handedly held off that terrifying dark red colossal beast for an extended period..."

As the horned demon passionately recounted the illustrious deeds of Great Demon King Barus, one of the demon kings spoke, their cold and commanding voice cutting through the noise.

"Silence."

The gathered demons instantly quieted, their expressions turning solemn. Barus regarded them indifferently before speaking in a detached tone. "I am Great Demon King Barus. I have summoned you to select some elite members to join my Assassination Division.

"Due to the collapse of the primordial star, the space-time barrier here has shifted, severing our connection with humanity. From now on, apart from leaving two legions to guard this place, the rest of the army will move to the Sky Battlefield's frontline."

As Barus prepared to select elites from the advanced demons of the defeated legions to bolster the strength of the Assassination Division, a voice rumbled from ten thousand kilometers above.

A figure enshrouded in an ocean of dark demonic qi spoke in a low tone. "This primordial colossal beast's world is merging with this realm. If we enter..."

Seated on a throne fashioned from an ancient creature’s skull, Deorus' gaze was icy as it interjected. "The primordial beast has already touched eternity. It won’t fall so easily. If we dare to enter, we risk being devoured in a single bite."

Gazing at the endless white mist stretching out like a forbidden zone ahead, Deorus continued. "We should focus on dealing with the humans.

"This time, not only did we fail to severely damage humanity, but we also suffered significant losses. Including Augusta and others who fell earlier, over ten demon kings have perished within a few day-cycles.

"Each of those fallen demon kings is connected to a single human—Chu Batian, whose real name is Chen Chu.

"According to Barus, just three or four day-cycles ago, this Chen Chu was only at the Sixth Demonic Mark level. Yet in such a short span, he has grown to a point where he can influence the course of an entire war.

"Such potential clearly marks him as one favored by the fate of a crumbling human world. Eliminating him would sever humanity's future."

The Purgatory Clan, through millennia of expansion and annihilation of countless civilizations, had grown familiar with the concept of fate.

Especially in moments of existential crisis, alien civilizations often produced astonishing prodigies whose brilliance would challenge the Purgatory Clan. These prodigies became prime targets; once identified, they were struck down with thunderous force, leaving no chance for them to grow.

However, humanity was a different matter—stronger, faster-growing, and demanding greater vigilance.

This was why Deorus had directly summoned reinforcements: one demon god, ten demon kings, and two great demon kings. Yet, humanity had anticipated their move and reinforced their defenses, causing the plan to fail.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, the distant void twisted and shattered. A shriveled black skull, wreathed in tendrils of dark smoke and spanning over twenty meters in diameter, emerged. A terror-inducing aura spread instantaneously.

From the broken void, a cold, deep voice echoed. "Deorus, do not forget the promise you made to me."

Staring at the ominous black skull exuding dreadful energy, Deorus spoke in a measured tone. "Rest assured, Tyretis. The next time you battle Tarodeor, I will intervene on your behalf."

"Good."

The low, satisfied voice faded as the void slowly repaired itself, leaving only the black skull floating in place.

Boom!

Deorus extended his hand, seizing the massive, menacing skull.

Feeling the potent cursed power emanating from it, Deorus muttered darkly. "Earlier, I destroyed the forbidden weapon protecting that human. This time, I will ensure his demise through this curse."

During the final moments of the last great battle, Deorus had sacrificed a portion of his true form’s arm to strike Chen Chu. It hadn’t been an act of blind fury, but a deliberate setup for this curse.

For the descendants of the demon gods among the Purgatory Clan, exhibiting freakish talent meant receiving a bloodline mark from their respective demon god—a safeguard against one principle-level attack.

Given Chen Chu’s monstrous potential, it was likely humanity had granted him similar protection.

Clutching the ominous black skull, Deorus spoke again. "Kaodes, I will rely on you to handle the karmic backlash when I unleash the curse upon that human."

The figure submerged in the sea of demonic qi nodded slightly.

Cursing someone remotely wasn't a simple task. Even for a demon god like Deorus, he needed to exploit the causal link[1] from his previous encounter with Chen Chu, burning this connection as a price. Additionally, he had to rely on a forbidden weapon refined by a demon god skilled in the principles of curses to ensure precise execution.

Finally, when the curse was activated, the backlash from the causal link would also unleash an attack of the same level.

***

In Abyssal City, within the cultivation room, Chen Chu sat cross-legged as he cultivated.

A day after returning, Chen Chu's aura had stabilized and returned to its peak. Unlike the kings who burned their origin, Chen Chu had only depleted his true power and vitality.

As for the cost of summoning the Thunder Fiery Demonic Dragon’s true form for an extended period... Chen Chu glanced down at his left hand.

Centered on the space-time mark on the back of his hand, silvery ripples extended, encircling his entire arm.

At the same time, translucent text appeared before his eyes.

[Abnormal state: Time erosion. A result of the extended overuse of summoning the avatar. Future uses of the space-time mark will deepen the erosion marks.]

[Warning: Accumulated time erosion marks will eventually draw the attention of time-eating entities. Use with caution.]

"Time-eating entities..." A grave expression appeared in Chen Chu's eyes.

Time, a conceptual power, existed but could not be tangibly perceived. It could only be influenced and measured indirectly. Even in the vast mythical world, transcendent beings tied to time were incredibly rare; the only ones Chen Chu knew of were Zhulong and Saixitia's father.

To think that entities feeding on time existed—this revealed just how perilous they were.

Chen Chu decided he would exercise more caution when employing summoning secret arts. He had no intention of being devoured by some unknown, powerful entity, nor of becoming lost forever in the endless void of time.

As he contemplated, a black mark surfaced on his brow, and his Insightful Eye triggered an intense sense of danger, dire and imminent. Alarmed, Chen Chu erupted with a terrifying willpower, sweeping several kilometers around him, yet he sensed nothing.

At that moment, however, his consciousness wavered. He found himself in a distant, dark void, facing a towering figure over ten thousand meters tall with three heads and twelve arms. This entity resembled a deity cloaked in dark red light that wove itself into a tangible hellscape.

Before the colossus, a massive black head emerged, silently opening its mouth to devour Chen Chu.

Boom!

Chen Chu’s consciousness jolted as he regained clarity in the cultivation room. His face was pale, and he gasped for breath.

Crack!

A shattering sound came from his chest. Around his neck, the True King Beast Seal, resembling a beast's head, fractured.

Bang!

Cracks spread across its surface before it exploded into a violent storm of energy and black smoke, engulfing the room. Amid the swirling chaos, Chen Chu’s hair fluttered as his expression turned grim.

He had just been cursed by an unknown force. If not for the True King Beast Seal given to him by the Third Councilor, he might have been slain by the principle-based causal curse.

The Purgatory Clan's methods were indeed insidious. The supreme powerhouses of humanity had foreseen the possibility of such a curse and provided comprehensive protections. Without them, this could have ended disastrously—even if he had survived, he would have been severely injured.

"Purgatory True Demons..."

Chen Chu’s expression turned icy. His figure vanished in a flash, becoming a streak of light that navigated multiple security checkpoints until he arrived at Abyssal City’s Logistics Department.

In an empty ten-square-meter room, Chen Chu spoke firmly. "Waling, display my information."

Hum!

A hum resounded as ripples spread across the wall, revealing Chen Chu’s detailed profile. His rank had been elevated from major general to lieutenant general, with over 800,000 merit points accumulated.

During this war of civilizations, Chen Chu had slaughtered countless advanced demons, including Ninth Demonic Mark legion commanders. He had also slain several demon kings outright.

These achievements included annihilating a black middle-stage mythical colossal beast with a breath attack, bombing a demon king, and crushing a late-stage demon king.

Other than that, among the demon kings that were severely injured by the dark red colossal beast, one had been caught and given to Mech No.1 to be eaten.

He had also severely injured the Great Demon Kings Barus and Jimtore. Although he did not manage to kill them, it dealt heavy damage to the enemies.

In total, these accomplishments tallied up to 810,000 merit points—equivalent to the value of eight demon kings.

Such an enormous accumulation of merits was enough for Chen Chu to exchange for Life Crystals, enhancing all of the Demonic Dragon’s abilities to the level of divine transformation. The remaining merits were sufficient to exchange for the god-level resources required for his cultivation.

Initially, Chen Chu’s goal for this battle had been modest: to dominate the transcendent battlefield, slaughtering a few dozen or perhaps a hundred advanced demons, and perhaps taking down one or two ordinary demon kings.

However, things escalated far beyond his expectations, turning into a brutal clash.

Although the harvest of merits seemed astonishing, Chen Chu’s losses were considerable as well. For instance, the time erosion marks that now entwined his arm, and the two principle-level forbidden weapons he had expended as life-saving measures.

These two forbidden weapons, capable of withstanding a demon god’s strike or a principle-level curse, had held values that arguably surpassed the merits he had just earned.

Thinking of this, Chen Chu couldn’t help but let out a faint, bitter smile.

Gains and losses.

Though he had sacrificed two principle-level forbidden weapons, the demon god he had faced suffered greatly as well.

For beings at the level of supreme powerhouses, losing an arm was already a significant injury.

Kings could replenish their laws-based true forms by consuming the origin of laws, and heavenly kings could merge with the principles themselves, appearing and dispersing without form. Yet for beings at the supreme level, their true forms became critically important once again.

The distinction was akin to the difference between soul power and soul essence—a matter directly tied to the hope of advancing further as a god. This was why all four gods had fought using the laws during their battle.

In particular, the demon god Kaodes had fractured his true form under the strike of the True Martial Stele, spilling his essence, which was then obliterated by the Heavenly King Zhenwu’s power. This loss had fueled Kaodes’ rage.

Chen Chu’s voice turned resolute. "Waling, what level of resources can I currently access?"

[At present, Lieutenant General Chen, your access level has been upgraded to that of a councilor. You can mobilize all resources within the Federation, including law-level resources, and view the corresponding classified information.]

Chen Chu nodded in satisfaction. This was precisely why he had fought so hard.

"Waling, allocate Life Crystals equivalent to 400,000 merits from across the Federation. It doesn’t matter if they’re level 1 or level 9." He wanted to fully enhance all of the Demonic Dragon’s abilities to their peak and elevate them to the law level.

His intention was clear: to temper the Demonic Dragon’s mythical true form with nine high-level laws, transforming its strength to terrifying heights. Even if its growth stage remained at the beginning stage of the mythical level, its combat power would ascend to an extraordinary level.

Moreover, Chen Chu had no interest in worrying about the allocation of these Life Crystals. His immediate priority was rapid enhancement.

"Waling, use the remaining 400,000 merits to exchange for god-level resources that can enhance the Innate Demon God’s true body."

A silver-haired, red-eyed girl appeared on the wall display, bowing respectfully.

[Lieutenant General Chen, your requested amount of Life Crystals and god-level resources is substantial. I will need to contact Celestial and coordinate logistics across major Base Cities. It will take two days to gather the resources.]

Chen Chu’s expression remained calm as he replied indifferently. "That’s fine. I can wait."

Nearly being killed by a curse had left Chen Chu with a profound sense of crisis. He needed to grow stronger in the shortest possible time—strong enough to ignore assassination attempts from the Purgatory Demon Clan.

After all, it wasn’t in his nature to take a beating without retaliation. Once he advanced to the level of king, it would mark the beginning of nightmares for his enemies.

As Chen Chu sat cross-legged, waiting in meditation, the small teleportation rune array on the left wall flickered intermittently. One by one, boxes filled with resources and Life Crystals began to materialize.

1. In Buddhism, causality refers to the interdependent nature of all phenomena and the intangible yet real chain of cause and effect that connects all actions, which forms the foundation of karma. In this case, "exploiting the causal link" refers to using that connection between action and reaction as a guideline to ensure the curse hits the correct target, regardless of location. ☜